# Epistemic Constitutionalism Or: how to avoid coherence bias

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.14295 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.14295/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 30 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Jan 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Constitutional AI: Harmlessness from AI Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08073/) (2022)
- [In conversation with Artificial Intelligence: aligning language models with human values](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.00731/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [The Argument and the Letterhead: Source-Position Coherence in AI Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.35286/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models increasingly function as artificial reasoners: they evaluate arguments, assign credibility, and express confidence. Yet their responses can leave the epistemic policies governing these evaluations implicit. This paper argues for an epistemic constitution for AI: explicit, contestable meta-norms regulating how systems form and express beliefs. Source attribution provides the motivating case. An exploratory audit suggested that expectations about a source's position intrude on argument evaluation. A preregistered study (arXiv:2609.35286) then found content-dependent effects of source attribution, with selected written evaluations supporting source-position fit as an explanation. The audit also revealed conflicting justifications for attending to sources. Source independence, however, is not a neutral default: in testimonial contexts, a source's position and the costs of speaking against interest can provide relevant evidence. I distinguish two approaches to epistemic constitution design: the Platonic, which mandates formal correctness and default source-independence from a privileged standpoint, and the Liberal, which rejects such privilege and protects conditions for collective inquiry while allowing principled source-attending grounded in epistemic vigilance. I defend the Liberal approach, sketch a constitutional core of eight principles and four orientations, and argue that AI epistemic governance requires explicit, contestable norms for evaluating testimony, responding to evidence, and revising judgements.